He Doesn't Need to Buy a Card
by raisinbrandy
Summary: It's Mother's Day, and Chad is feeling mean. Well, more mean than usual. And only Sonny is brave enough to find out why.


**Title:**_ He Doesn't Need to Buy a Card_

**Summary:**_ It's Mother's Day, and Chad is feeling mean. Well, more mean than usual. And only Sonny is brave enough to find out why._

**Disclaimer:**_ Me? Own Sonny with a Chance? How preposterous!_

**Author's Note:**_ I know Mother's Day was weeks ago, but I started this before the holiday, and I intended to finish it. So...ta-da!_

* * *

"Hey Tawni!" Sonny cheered, whipping out a brightly colored card at the _So Random!_ table in the cafeteria. "Look at the card I made my mom for Mother's Day. Isn't it great?"

Tawni glanced up from texting on her phone. "Well, it certainly is...colorful," she replied, and then immediately turned her attention back to her cell phone.

Sonny rolled her eyes at her cast mate's inability to focus on anyone but herself. "Nico, what do _you_ think of my card?"

"I think it's great, Sonny," he answered truthfully.

"Yeah," Grady added. "Your mom will love it."

She blushed. "Thanks, guys."

"I think it looks ridiculous and downright ugly, personally," said a fierce voice behind Sonny. She whirled around in her seat to see who made the extremely rude comment. It was Chad standing there with his hands in his pockets and a sneer smeared under his nose. "Kinda like you, Munroe."

Sonny frowned and looked down, hurt in her eyes. "Thanks, Chad."

"No problem," the _Mackenzie Falls_ star responded grimly and stormed away.

Sonny turned back toward her friends. "Well, that was harsh," she said, staring down at her card she worked so hard on. She was clearly crushed by the words of Chad Dylan Cooper.

Tawni noticed this in the few seconds she took a break from texting. She knew she should comfort her poor cast mate. But, of course, being Tawni Hart, she wasn't sure exactly how. So, she tried her best by reaching out her hand to Sonny's arm on the table and caressing it quickly before swiftly recoiling it back to her side. Sonny shot her head up and removed her arm from the table top, feeling uncomfortable and confused.

"Don't take it personally," Tawni said. "Chad's _always _mean. You know that."

"Yeah, I guess," Sonny replied, still upset. "But that was like, super mean. It was cruel, even. And, yeah, Chad can be mean, but he's never cruel."

"Maybe something's wrong," Zora declared.

"How can something be wrong?" Grady questioned. "Chad's life is perfect."

"Wait a minute..." Sonny trailed off, pondering Zora's statement. "Z has a point, Grady. I mean, we don't know Chad outside of the studio. How to we know what happens to Chad when he's not here? Maybe something's up in his personal life."

"Sonny's right," Nico agreed. " We _don't_ know."

"And...he's clearly upset with what ever's going on," she added. "Or other wise he wouldn't be acting so mean. Or, well, meaner than usual."

Tawni groaned. "Get to your point, Sonny."

Sonny shrugged. "Well, I just think that maybe he needs to talk about his problem. Everyone always feels better when they talk it out."

"So, what are you going to do?" Tawni inquired. "Talk to him? 'Reach out' to him?" She used her fingers to put air quotes around 'Reach out'.

Sonny stood up out of her chair. "Maybe I am!"

Tawni's jaw dropped in awe at her co-star. "You mean you're actually going to try to help that jerk after he just insulted you AND your Mother's Day card knowing very well he could insult you just as terribly again?"

"Well...yeah."

Tawni scoffed and picked her phone back up, beginning to text someone again. "Whatever. Hey, when he rips you to shreds, can I have your blue eye shadow?"

Sonny rolled her eyes at Tawni as she left the cafeteria to find Chad.

She walked over to the_ Mackenzie Falls_ stage and asked relentlessly to every person she saw if they knew where Chad was. Nobody she talked to did.

She roamed around Stage 2 for what seemed like hours, shouting Chad's name and looking in every nook and cranny he could possibly be in. He was no where to be found. Sonny couldn't figure out why he would hide from the world so suddenly, but the fact was that he was gone, and she grew tired of searching for him. She gave up on the Chad hunt and walked back to _So Random!_'s stage.

She ambled into the _So Random!_ set where the show is filmed and the audience watches. Her head was down filled with the disappointment of not being able to find Chad, when suddenly she heard a whimper, followed by a sniffle, and it shot up to see where the noises were coming from. What she saw almost made her faint. She gaped at the scene in front of her, because what she was seeing sitting in an empty audience member's chair was Chad Dylan Cooper.

Crying.

Sonny stood awkwardly for a moment wondering what to do with the sobbing boy in the audience seat. Should she comfort him? Or should she simply walk away and pretend like she never saw what she did? Well, that's exactly what Chad would've wanted, her to just leave and never tell a soul she saw him crying. But, being the caring and kind person that she is, Sonny made her way to see what was the matter with Chad.

She tried to step up the stairs as silently as she could as to not disturb him, because if he realized she had seen him like he was, he would run away and deny everything she saw. Sonny managed to sit down in the chair right beside Chad before he jumped slightly, noticing she was there. Surprisingly, though, he didn't run off. All he did was turn his head away from her and mumble, "What do you want, Munroe?"

Sonny opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by Chad adding, "If you're looking for an apology, you're gonna be disappointed."

"Well, it would be nice, but I'm not here for that," she responded.

"Then what is it?" he asked, getting a little irritated.

"Turn around first," she told him.

"No," he stated forcefully. "Just tell me what you want so you can leave."

Sonny sighed. "I want to know if you'll lend me five bucks."

"What?!" Chad shouted, spinning around to tell Sonny off to her face. "You find me sitting here,_ clearly_ upset, and all you want to do is take my money?!"

She giggled a little. "No," she said. "But I got you to turn around."

Chad gave her a half smile, but it quickly disappeared. "Then what do you _really_ want to know?"

Her smile vanished, too. "What's wrong," she replied softly.

"What do you mean?" Chad put on a confused expression. "I-I was just practicing for a scene."

But, Sonny saw through his feeble disguise. "Chad, I saw you crying. Plus, you were being so much nastier than normal back in the cafeteria. I mean, calling me ugly? That's not you. So, what's up?"

He shook his head in response. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, Chad. You'll feel better when you do."

"No, Sonny. Just...just leave me alone."

Sonny's shoulder's slumped down. She felt like she wouldn't be able to get through to a proud boy like Chad. He has too much pride to talk about his feelings and admit that he was crying. But, she wasn't about to give up yet.

"You know," she began, "when I feel sad, I get a big ol' tub of chocolate ice cream and watch a bunch of comedy movies with my mom. Then, I talk to her about why I'm sad."

"What's your point?" Chad inquired rudely.

Sonny answered his questioned with another one. "Well, what do you do when you're sad?"

Chad shrugged as he shifted his eyes to his feet. "I don't come here if that's what you're thinking."

She shook her head. "I wasn't thinking that at all."

There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "Do _you_ hang out with your mom?"

Chad scoffed. "I most _certainly_ don't do _that_," he spat.

"Why not?"

He lifted his head up as fast as lightning and gave Sonny a hard glare. "It's none of your business '_Why not_'."

"Come on, Chad. Let it out."

"No!" he screamed as he jumped to his feet. "Just get out of here, Munroe!"

Sonny stood up angrily and glared at him. "Fine!" she hollered. "If that's the way you want it! I don't even care anymore! Sit here and cry until your eyes bleed for all I care! This is the last time I try to be nice to you!"

Sonny twirled around on her heal and was about to stomp away from Chad when he yelled, "You wanna know why I'm sitting here crying?!"

She turned back to Chad, suddenly calmer and interested in what he had to say.

"My mom's dead!" he boomed. "My mom's dead and it's Mother's Day, Munroe! Do the math!"

Chad crashed back onto his seat in a fit of tears. Sonny slowly made her way back to her chair next to him. She began to rub his back comfortingly. "Shh," she whispered. "It's all right."

"No it's not," he sobbed. "This is my first Mother's Day without her. I never realized how much I missed her until now."

"Oh, Chad, I'm so sorry," Sonny cooed.

"It's so hard trying to cope with the fact that I'll never see her again. I'll never laugh with her again. I'll never be able to buy a Mother's Day card again. Do you know how difficult that is?"

Sonny was silent.

"_Really_ difficult, Munroe. So, so difficult. I want to see her so much. I want to give her a hug."

Sonny nodded slightly, never taking her eyes off of the weeping Chad Dylan Copper. "I understand," she said.

"No. No you don't."

"Yes, I do, Chad. I understand what you're going through. My grandmother and I were very close. Then, a few years ago, she passed away. It's _really_ hard at first, I know. But trust me, Chad, it _does_ get easier."

Chad shook his head. "I don't see how that's possible."

"It is," she replied. "The trick it to think of all the good times you shared with her."

"How did you get through your grandmother's death?" Chad asked, raising his head and looking into Sonny's eyes. Their faces were so close that Sonny could see the faint tear stains on Chad's cheeks and the sadness painted in his eyes.

She smiled. "My family and I all sat in our living room and started telling stories about her." She began to laugh a little before continuing. "Like once, when I was really young, I was crying because my cookie fell into the mud. So, my grandma took me into her house and started to whip me up a whole new batch of cookies. She wanted to get them to me as fast as she could, so she was rushing around her tiny little kitchen and accidently slipped on some egg she dropped on the floor, falling and spilling everything in her mixing bowl all over me and her. We ended up just licking the batter off of ourselves."

Chad cracked a smirk and started to chuckle. "Sounds like your grandmother was very...interesting."

Sonny beamed a toothy grin. "You got that right! What about your mom? What was she like?"

His smile vanished and he looked down. "She was like a mom."

She shook him a little bit. "Come on, Chad. What's a good memory you have of her?"

His smile reappeared and he shifted in his chair so his body would be facing Sonny. "Okay," he began, "once my mom took me out for ice cream at my favorite ice cream shop. But, that day, it was really crowded and the line was extending all the way outside. So, she actually started to pay and bribe her way to the front of the line just so I would be able to get some ice cream."

Sonny and Chad both erupted into laughter once Chad was finished with his story. After a few moments, the two calmed down, and Sonny spoke.

"Your mom sounds like she was a great person," she said.

Chad replied with a smile on his face, "Yeah, she really was."

"You know...your ice cream story made me kind of hungry..." she hinted.

He let out a snort. "Would you like to go get some then?"

She nodded brightly. "I would positively love to."


End file.
